Ernest schmidt



(No Model.)

E. SCHMIDT.

ELEGTRIG GAS LIGHTING DEVICE.

No. 571,288. Patented Nov. 10, 1896.

mums-es: A miiiljjtor:

Attorney- THE Nonms PETERS co, mmouwq. WASHINGTON. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT EEicE,

ERNEST SCHMIDT, OF BERLIN, GERMANY.

ELECTRIC GAS-LlGHTlNG DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 571,288, dated November10, 1896.

Application filed August 1,1896. Serial No. 601,351. No model.)

Be it known that I, ERNEST SCHMIDT, a subject of the King of Prussia,German hmperor, and a resident of Berlin, in the Kingdom of Prussia,German Empire, have in vented a certain new and useful Improved Devicefor Lighting Gas and other Lamps, of which the following is a full,clear and exact description.

The present invention relates to devices for lighting gas and otherlamps automatically by means of electricity; and it consists of thedetails of construction hereinafter set forth, and particularly pointedout in the claims; and in order to render the present specification moreeasily intelligible reference is had to the accompanying drawings, inwhich similar letters of reference denote similar parts throughout theseveral views.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the lower part of an incandescentgas-burner, showing the igniting device with the cap or casing of thesame in section. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1, the cap being insection. Fig. 3 is a detail side elevation showing the operation of themechanism for turning the gascock on and off, the mechanism being in theposition it occupies when the cock has just been turned on. Fig. at is asimilar detail elevation showing the double pawl in the act of engagingthe opposite pin of the gas-cock to turn the gas oif on the nextmovement of the armature controlling the said pawl. Fig.

5 is a similar elevation showing the armature attracted by theelectromagnet and the cock turned off. Fig. 6 is a detail sectionalelevation of the cock employed in connection with the present device;and Fig. 7, a horizontal section through the burner-tube, taken justabove the armature-pivot and showing the double armature in plan view.

According to the present invention the whole igniting mechanism,with theexception of the battery, is mounted on a base-plate A, arranged at thelower part of the burnertube, and a partially-rotating disk R isemployed to turn the gas on and off, although any other suitable cockmight be used without departing from the nature of the presentinvention. This disk may be seen in section at Fig. 6 and is providedwith depressions a: and p on its facing and with acentral bridgepiecen", dividing the said depressions, while the gas-tube is provided with alateral facing, on which the disk turns on a pivot, said tube having apartition ll, so that the gas can only pass to the burner along thechannel ll through the depressions and y, and when the disk is turned sothat the bridge 20 corresponds with the partition end the gas supplywill be cut off. he disk R is pivoted at a to the partition and providedwit-h two substantially diametrically oppositely arranged pins to andI), over which the double pawl K, which is actuated by the electromagnetA, can engage alternately, and exercising a pull 011 same opens orcloses the cook. The cock is provided with a downwardly-extendin g tailg, which passes through a slot in the baseplate A, the ends of said slotforming stops for the movement of the disk R, as will be seen from Fig.1.

Attached to the center of the disk R is a spring c,which engages the armof the double pawl K in the following manner: The double pawl K isloosely suspended from the proj ecting arm of a doublearmature,hereinafter to be described. hen the armature is attracted, thepawl is raised, and when the same is released the pawl sinks to itslowest position. The object of the spring 0 is to throw the pawl K orits corresponding hook under the hooks or pins a and b of the disk Ralternately. Thus, for instance, supposing the two pins a and l) to bein the horizontal plane opposite each other and the cock neither closednor fully open, then the spring 0 will exercise no pressure on the rodof the pawl. If new the cock is fully opened by the action of thearmature, as shown at Fig. 3, then the spring will have been turned bythe movement of the disk R, to which it is attached, and will exercisepressure on the pawl-rod, tending to push it to the right of Fig. 3. Assoon now as the armature has been released the pawl will fall and theaction of the spring 0 will throw it under the pin l), as shown at Fig.l. On the next movement of the armature the pawl will pull the diskround in the opposite direction by means of the pin Z) and close thecock, simultaneously turning the spring in the opposite direction, sothat on the next release of the armature the pawl on falling will bethrown under the pin a ready to turn the cock in the opposite directionat the next movement of the armature.

The electromagnet A is mounted on the base-plate A, and a doublearmature B O is pivotally supported on pivots l3 l3, fixed in the sidesof the burner-tube. The arrangement of the armatures B C will be bestseen from Figs. 1, 2, and 7. Both armatures are arranged to turn on thesame pivots, as clearly shown at Fig. 7, and the lower armature B isprovided with a counterpoise G, which pulls it away from the magnet whenthe latter is not excited. The upper armature C passes through a recessin the lower one B at a point above the electromagnet and is capable ofvibration on its pivots without influencing the armature B, for a reasonhereinafter stated. The lower armature B is extended round behind theburner-tube, looking from the magnet side of the same, and carries atthis side the double pawl K,whieh is loosely suspended therefrom, sothat a movement of the lower armature B will opcrate the pawl K. Theupper part 0 of the armature when attracted will close a sparkgenerating electric circuit by means of tubular rods Z and Z. The outerrod Z is fast on a plate M on the burner-tube, and the inner tube Z isinsulated and vertically guided to slide within the tube Z, the upperends of the said tubes being formed to produce electric sparks when thearmature is attracted. The inner tube Z is normally held down,with itsupper bent round end, Fig. 2, resting on the upper end of the tube Z, bymeans of an insulated spring on, mounted on the under side of the plateM and acting on the lower end of the tube Z to keep the same down on thetube Z. The lower end of the inner tube Z is connected by a small tube 0to the gascoek, and its upper end isformed to produce a jet-flame, whenthe cock is opened, which will be ignited by the electric sparksgenerated at this point.

One pole of the battery is connected to the contact-screw P on the plateA, which is insulated from the gas-tube of the burner, and the otherpole is connected to the burner-tube.

The end F of the upper armature (J is formed to engage under the end ofthe rod Z when this armature is attracted and push the same slightlyupward, so that electric sparks will be formed at the upper end of thetubes Z Z.

\Vhen the current is sent through the apparatus, both the armatures willbe attracted, one, B, opening the gas-cock in the manner alreadydescribed, and the other, C, slightly raising the jet-flame tube Zagainst the pressure of its spring m, so that gas will be fed to thistube through a, and at the same time sparks will be generated at theupper ends of Z and Zand the jet-flame lighted. On turning oii' thecurrent the armature will be released and the pawl will. fall down readyto engage the opposite pin of the disk R at the next attraction of thearmature. and operate the cock in the opposite direction. The object ofmaking the armature in two parts 1; and C is that when sparks areproduced at the upper ends of Z Z by the contact of the end F of thelever C with the lower end of Z the latter is liable to vibrate, andwere the armature in one piece this vibration would be liable to becommunicated to the cock and cause the same to be turned partially back,possibly before the gas may have been lighted. In the present case thepart 0 of the armature is free to vibrate and cannot communicate itsvibration to the part B, which remains in position on the electromagnetas long as the same is excited.

Instead of arranging a jet-flame it is obvious that the electric sparksmay be employed to ignite the gas direct without first igniting the jet,but the latter is preferable in connection with incandescent gas-lamps.

I claim as my invention- 1. An apparatus for automatically igniting gasand other lamps by means of electric current which consists of anelectromagnct having an armature consisting of two independently-movablemembers, a gas-cock operatively connected to one member and an ignitingdevice operatively connected to the other member, and means for sendingone and the same current through the electromagneteoils and to thespark-producing device sub stantially as described.

2. The combination of an electromagnet having an armature consisting oftwo members, said two members being capable of reciprocatory movement onand round the same pivots, a gas-eock operatively connected with onemember and an igniting device operatively connected to the other member,and means for operating the armature and the i gniting device by one andthe same current substantially as described.

3. The combination of an electromagnet having a double armature asspecified and means for connecting one member of said an mature to theigniting device, a gas-cock and means for operatively connecting theother armature member thereto consisting of a double pawl, suspendedfrom said armature member and adapted to engage alternately pins on therevoluble gas-cock, and a spring at tached to the gas-eock and rotatedtherewith said spring connected to the double pawl and operating thesame substantially as described.

4. The combination of an electromagnet having an armature consisting oftwo members, pivotally supported as specified, one of said members beingoperatively connected to the gas-eoek, and the other to an ignitingdevice consisting of a hollow rod extending in proximity to the burner,and a tube insulated therein and capable of substantially verticalmovement therein, an insulated spring m to press said tube downward. andan extension to said second member to engage the lower end of said innertube when the magnet is excited and electric connections to the magnetand to the igniting device for the purpose substantially as described.

5. The combination of an electromagnet A having a double armature B Gpivotal connections for said armature to the burner tube at B, a cock Rin the burner-tube consisting of a revoluble disk having pins a and band recesses a: 3 said disk being pivotally c011- nected to a partitiondividing said burnertube a double pawl K suspended from the member B ofthe armature, and a spring actuated by the rotation of the cook-plug tothrow the said double pawl in opposite directions alternately andcorresponding to the position of the cock a conductor Z fast 011 a plateof the burner and extending in proximity to the burner-head, aspring-actuated conductor Z insulated as regards the conductor Z andadapted to form therewith a sparkproducing head and means fortransmitting the motion of the armature member 0 to said conductorsubstantially as described.

6. The combination of an electromagnet having an armature consisting oftwo mem- ERNEST SCHMIDT. lVitnesses:

W. HAUPT, HENRY HARPER.

